IMC3000 Series issues with MPS / false toner reading

[Gift]

Hi there, recently we noticed a few cases with sudden "toner end" - toner levels jumps from like 40 or 30 percent to zero and the toner is actual empty so there's no issue with the hopper. Had another one today (cyan droppen from 30 to 0) and the customer was nearby. Again the toner (original ricoh) was empty but like in other cases it even lasted longer than the expected yield. All units receive FW updates automatically.

Usually the toner remaining calculation in ricoh MFPs is very reliable (expect with the MPC307 at some point) so I'm a bit confused to see these cases within a few weeks and wander if anyone else also experienced it.

[luca72]

Hi there, recently we noticed a few cases with sudden "toner end" - toner levels jumps from like 40 or 30 percent to zero and the toner is actual empty so there's no issue with the hopper. Had another one today (cyan droppen from 30 to 0) and the customer was nearby. Again the toner (original ricoh) was empty but like in other cases it even lasted longer than the expected yield. All units receive FW updates automatically.

Usually the toner remaining calculation in ricoh MFPs is very reliable (expect with the MPC307 at some point) so I'm a bit confused to see these cases within a few weeks and wander if anyone else also experienced it.

the only explanation that comes to mind is that the machines are remanufactured and delivered with half the toner, and some sp has been "rigged" to make them appear full, or the chip has been replaced, or they are compatible cartridges, or the development units are exhausted, usually happened with yellow, maybe none of these are your case(?)

[Leoculus]

possibly when the machine is using <1% coverage the widget isnt tracking the estimated usage properly then the TD sensor in the dev or in the hopper detects a definite toner end which also causes the widget to show an empty bottle. since the bottle is actually empty it cant recover without a new bottle. i rarely get a toner bottle go empty while servicing a unit so have not heard of this myself. i have had a couple of the toner end sensors on the hopper go on a pro c7110s (same sensor) cause some goofy problems

[slimslob]

possibly when the machine is using <1% coverage the widget isnt tracking the estimated usage properly then the TD sensor in the dev or in the hopper detects a definite toner end which also causes the widget to show an empty bottle. since the bottle is actually empty it cant recover without a new bottle. i rarely get a toner bottle go empty while servicing a unit so have not heard of this myself. i have had a couple of the toner end sensors on the hopper go on a pro c7110s (same sensor) cause some goofy problems

Sounds like a problem with the RFID system on an MP C.

[Gift]

the only explanation that comes to mind is that the machines are remanufactured and delivered with half the toner, and some sp has been "rigged" to make them appear full, or the chip has been replaced, or they are compatible cartridges, or the development units are exhausted, usually happened with yellow, maybe none of these are your case(?)

Nope these are our contract machines usually new (like the one yesterday) - we also rent 2nd hand machines bot don't rig anything during refurb. Depending on the model we tewae some SPs to delay the toner near end message on the display but nothing that affects the total remaining percentage counter and we had no issues until recently. Yesterday the machine had indeed a high color counter because the customer prints manuals for his products. Previus cases had way less volume and total counter (unfortunately the new common these days..). I'm mainly confused because the toner actually last as long or longer as they promise so I don't think there was an issue with the filling (like KM did on purpose during the toner shortage time wich was also not cool within MPS enviroments).

[Mako]

We use FM Audit software and find HP and Kyocera toner levels to be quite accurate and Ricoh to be hit and miss.

One other important issue we've run into in one of our hospital accounts is lazy employees swapping toner from one machine to another to make their machine work rather than following procedure and getting the toner from the materials management.

Don't rule out the human element. If the customer is moving toner from machine to machine it ruins the whole system.

[Popolopo]

if not mistaken, there are low yield and high yield toner where got different weight. Or toner end detection turn off, SP3-100. If toner end detection turn off, it will stay at 20% even toner empty

[Gift]

I think you can provide the customer with a high ppm model with the low ppm toner version (example: put IMC3000 toner into IMC4500) but not vice versa. We don't do this though but I think even if one would try the machine would adjust the remaining calculation according to the chip data. If you move a toner from machine a to b the reading would also be migrated but in most cases the customer only have one device.

Mako

We use FM Audit, too but I can't blame the software since it just forwards the information provided by the MFPs mib table.

[Mako]

Mako

We use FM Audit, too but I can't blame the software since it just forwards the information provided by the MFPs mib table.

Like I said, the system seems to be a lot more accurate with HP and Kyocera products than Ricoh. Why that is I don't know but that is my experience.

[Larhal]

With your MPS system do you see the toner levels dropping to 0 and then returning to the previous percentage? We had this in on several IMC6010 and found out the chip contact was breaking contact every once and a while. During the time it was not in contact the consumption continued but was not recorded. .Replaced the holder and 90% of the time it corrected the issue. Tried working with the paws that hold the cartridge in but with no success. hope this helps.